In a communication to his top referees, the managers of referees’ societies and the assessors, André Watson, South Africa’s refereeing boss, voices his concern about an aspect of post-tackle refereeing. This is what he has to say.

Just a short note to bring your attention to an area that is being neglected at present generally. It pertains to the ruck developing after a tackle.

Allow me to give a typical example:

· Team Purple takes the ball into a tackle and is tackled by team Pink.

· You referees manage the tackler pretty well and the result is that he releases in a flash.

· In the meanwhile Pink and Purple arrive to contest or clean out. RUCK FORMS!

· The ball then comes out very quickly and a Pink player standing in front of the last feet, sees that the ball is out and he plays! You all shout “Ball out, play on” – WRONG!

· The player was offside before the ball emerged.

Please manage this area as it is no use we effect quick ball by dealing with the tackler and then allow off-side players to play the ball once it is out. You need to be quick to identify this and even quicker to manage it. If he does not retire to the last feet on your communication and plays, please play advantage or penalise.